


anthem of the last days

by MinSeulgi



Series: Monsta X Bingo Winter 2017 [1]
Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Avengers AU, Dark Humor, How Do I Tag, Humor, Kiki has a potty mouth, Light Angst, M/M, Monsta X Bingo, Swearing, War, lots of swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-07
Updated: 2017-02-07
Packaged: 2018-09-22 15:20:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9613538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MinSeulgi/pseuds/MinSeulgi
Summary: Once upon a time, Kihyun was normal, and he enjoyed it.Alternatively: Loki can’t play well with others and must have been terribly popular in the sandbox while he was growing up.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my first fic for level 3 of the 2017 winter MX Bingo! Prompt is **Avengers AU**.
> 
> Music inspiration/aid this time: Game of Thrones Soundtrack, Fastball's The Way, Sonic Syndicate's Burn This City, Skillet's Whispers in the Dark, and Muse's Uprising. Sonic Syndicate's Powershift is where I snagged the title from!

 

 

> _And you asked why people always expected you to smile in photographs._  
>  _And I told you it was because they hoped that in the future,_  
>  _there would be something to smile about.  
>  _**pleasefindthis - i wrote this for you, “The Corners of Your Mouth”**

***

“Are you sure this is the right way?”

There’s a disgruntled noise in Kihyun’s ear, a noise that he almost passes off as static crackling over the line. It wouldn’t be the first time. In recent months, the resistance had been forced to resort to the use of age-old technology to communicate safely. As intelligent and all-knowing as Loki claims to be, he’s remarkably useless when it comes to the use of walkie talkies and any tech that their resident hackers have gotten their hands on.

So logically, Kihyun knows that it could be a flaw in the system. Realistically, however...

_“I have a map right in front of me, Kihyun. Do you really think I would send you the wrong way?”_

Kihyun grins, the expression a flash of teeth in the dark. “Well, you did once try to walk me through the front doors of a temporary prison.”

 _“That was an accident!”_ Changkyun protests, defensive.

“A temporary prison guarded by a dozen heavily-armed and trigger-happy meatsacks, if I remember correctly. And I do remember,” Kihyun adds as he turns a corner, “because they shot at me.” It’s then that he comes to a halt, freezing for the briefest of moments before backpedaling. It’s a moment that he knows will cost him. “Find a new route and get me the fuck out of here before I fucking kill you!”

 _“What do you mean?”_ Kihyun can hear the Changkyun’s confusion through the earpiece he wears, which tells him that at least this time it hadn’t been intentional. The clicking of keys follows close behind as Changkyun brings up his copy of the blueprints of the building. Just barely louder than that is the sound of footfalls in the hallway behind him. Kihyun sucks in a lungful of air and swings around the next corner, vaguely remembering from a glance over the blueprints that it would eventually bring him full circle if he took a couple more turns.

_“Kihyun, that hallway should have been clear straight through to the stairway. The alarm system was disengaged--”_

“They were waiting for me!”

_“What?”_

“I’m saying--” Kihyun swings around another corner and nearly slams into a waiting body. He doesn’t retreat, a credit to his training, and lashes out with his elbow, throwing the full force of his weight begins the blow.  The man in the hallway isn’t expecting it, not when he’s got a full head on Kihyun and weighs at least twice as much. He goes down like a rock, hands at his throat, and Kihyun jumps over his body before continuing. “Kyun, I’m saying they were waiting for me. I don’t know how they knew, but there were four underfucks waiting for me, and if you don’t get me the fuck out of here--”

Kihyun should have been paying for attention. Fuck, he should have been paying more attention instead of chewing Changkyun’s ass for getting him into the mess. He really should have been paying more attention. Instead, he rounds another corner, glancing over his shoulder to make sure no one else has caught up to him, and slams into what feels like a wall.

Kihyun staggers back a step, breath leaving him on a wheeze as he reaches out a hand to steady himself. It’s been a long time since he last collided with another person, and even longer since the force of it nearly took him down. In fact, Kihyun thinks, vague and somewhat detached, the last time was in a situation similar to this one. That was also the first time he met--

“And where do you think you’re going in such a hurry, cutie?”

Oh, fuck.

 _“Oh, fuck,”_ Changkyun breathes in his ear. _“Is that--?”_

When Kihyun can finally suck in a lungful of air and straighten without wanting to fold like a deck of cards, he finds himself staring at a mischievous smile, slicked back silver hair, and a body like a brick shithouse.

It’s Wonho. Of course it’s Wonho.

It’s _always_ fucking Wonho.

***

Once upon a time, Kihyun was a normal person with a life that didn’t involve sneaking into dangerous places, stealing equally dangerous information, and handing over that information to exponentially dangerous people.

Once upon a time, Kihyun was normal, and he enjoyed it.

The War -- short for _The War That Bridged The Worlds_ ; _The War That Crossed Time_ ; _Loki’s War Against Everyone But Himself_ ; _The War Against Loki And His Flunkies_ ; or, Kihyun’s personal favorite, _Loki Can’t Play Well With Others And Must Have Been Terribly Popular In The Sandbox While He Was Growing Up_ \-- began three years ago when Loki crossed space and time into the human world, stole some serious technology, destroyed New York City, and defeated a bunch of would-be heroes.

Back then, Kihyun was still young and stupid, a psychology major with a part-time job that barely made ends meet while he struggled with the daunting task of paying for tuition and rent while leaving enough at the end of each month for groceries. He didn’t think much beyond his project and homework, didn’t bother to ask himself whether there were other worlds out there beyond the edges of his own, or whether there happened to be a homicidal, psychopathic maniac itching to set his world on fire.

It was something Kihyun didn’t really have to to him about because it wasn’t something that conceivably happened...until it did.

The first news of Loki came on a Thursday morning ten minutes before Kihyun’s 10am class. It was a meant to be a philosophy lecture-discussion, one given by a guest speaker that had flown in for the week just for their class and another. But instead of discussing the topic given on their syllabus -- the ideas of god and religion -- they discussed gods, plural, and what the appearance of a stranger claiming to be their new god meant. Kihyun had no idea, none of them did, that their discussion of theory would soon become one of fact and cruel reality.

Loki came to Seoul in an explosion of sound and chaos. With him came monsters from the sky, oddly shaped creatures that tore through buildings like they were made of paper or tissue rather than steel and stone. And with Loki and his creatures came the would-be heroes, the ones that had fought and fallen in New York, the ones that have been taken captive and...changed.

Kihyun had seen one of those fallen heroes once in passing once, a glimpse that had been fleeting and left him doubting everything he and those around him had fought to build. The rebellion had still been young then, in its infancy stages, and one solid blow could and would have crushed their budding resistance into dust. To this day, he’s kept quiet about the memory, of a man in tattered clothing with hollowed eyes and gaunt skin, with scars visible through his fading uniform and a circular shield so worn and dinged that that the patriotic paint had hardly been visible.

He still thinks back on that memory, on the fear that had curled like a fist around his lungs and weighed heavier than an anchor in his stomach. Whenever Kihyun thinks about giving up, about the futility of fighting when they’re out-manned, out-gunned, and out-matched, he thinks about the gutted hero and tells himself that there are worse fates than dying with the rebellion.

***

“I’ve got this, fellas,” Wonho says with a smug little smirk, his hand warm where it pins both of Kihyun’s wrists against the small of his back. The size difference is just annoying enough for Kihyun to swear to himself that next time he gets a chance -- if he gets a chance -- he’s going to break Wonho’s hand. Or both of them.

Kihyun keeps his anger in check and to himself, head bowed and managing to look at least halfway properly cowed as Wonho’s associates and fellow meatsacks turn and stomp back down the hall. Kihyun watches them go, watches as the final body turns the most distant corner, and gives it several seconds more before jostling his arms with clear impatience.

“You can let me go any time, asshole.” he prompts, ever helpful.

Wonho chuckles, fingers tightening around Kihyun’s wrist as he turns and pushes the other down the hallway. “And what if someone were to return to base right now? Who knows what they would think if they saw us walking together like we were equals!”

Kihyun frowns and discreetly twists his hand and arm until he can pinch at the soft underside of Wonho’s wrist. The yelp that follows is oddly satisfying, and Kihyun tucks his smug smile into the furthest corners of his lips. “What was that? We are equals? How strange.”

Wonho tsks, using his free hand to pat the space between Kihyun’s shoulders. “You’re part of the rebellion, Ki. We’ve talked about this.”

“That’s right,” Kihyun agrees with a sagely nod. “We can’t be equals because I won’t join your merry camp of meatsacks and let myself be kicked around by Loki’s henchfucks when the rebellion do something that upsets them.”

Wonho sighs, but his grip does loosen just enough for Kihyun roll his shoulder back and adjust. “That’s not it at all, Ki. You know that.”

Kihyun does know that. But he’s always been one to push boundaries, and the fact that the world is coming to an end won’t stop him from pushing Wonho’s every chance he gets.

The March of Shame, as Kihyun has come to call it, comes to an end a couple minutes later when they find themselves at the base of the back stairwell. It leads to the roof, to safety, and provides plenty of coverage and escape routes should Kihyun be seen. Again.

Wonho releases him without a word, arms folding as he steps back to lean against the wall.

“I guess this is my stop,” Kihyun says, tilting his head back and peering up into the gloom. Despite the emergency lights that glow at the start of each new flight of stairs, the path to the top is dark and foreboding. But this isn’t Kihyun’s first trip up there, and it certainly won’t be his last. “But before I get going, allow me to make a suggestion.”

Wonho sighs, eyes rolling. “If your suggestion is that I stop catching you, allow me to make a suggestion first: Stop being seen in the first place. If you’re not seen, I won’t have to capture you. Problem solved.”

Kihyun cocks his head, a small smile pulling onto his lips. “I could do that, I suppose. Or you could stop using a security system that only works half the time. It’s a real bitch and a half to navigate when sometimes it’s working, and sometimes it’s down, and then sometimes it’s having a spaz attack and resets and catches me right as I’m trying to make my great escape.”

At least this time Wonho smiles. “What, are you getting tired of me rescuing you? You could always just say that.”

“Or,” Kihyun protests, immediate and unamused, “I could protest the actual problem. The alarm. This makes three times now that it’s randomly gone off when Changkyun’s supposedly had it disarmed for me. It’s going to ruin my reputation if it gets out that your meatsack friends keep catching me.”

“But I catch you.” Wonho is definitely smiling, a sunshiney thing that is all teeth and gums. “I’ll always catch you, Kihyunnie. Don’t you know that?”

Kihyun is saved from a protest and some sort of retaliation by Changkyun’s voice in his ear. _“Guys, if you want to flirt and make up, that’s fine. But don’t do the teasing and sexual tension thing and start playing tonsil hockey again. I don’t want to hear it again.”_

“You’re a party pooper, Kyun,” Kihyun grumbles, mood having soured somewhat from the interruption. Wonho doesn’t need much to explain what’s going on. He may not be able to hear Changkyun, but Kihyun’s reaction and their previous conversation is enough to give him the gist.

“Aww, Kyun,” he says,  chuckling. “Are you jealous of Kihyunnie getting to play around in the field?”

Changkyun doesn’t answer, but Kihyun doesn’t really expect him to. He’s probably offering them a moment of privacy  since there’s no telling when they’ll see each other again after this.

It’s hard, after all, to be part of the rebellion but to operate on different sides of the field.

“Let me know when the alarm is down and I’ll sneak in with something for you to eat,” Kihyun says as he tucks the manilla envelope into a different pocket, one it won’t easily fall out of, and heads for the stairs. “Or maybe you can come find me next time. You’re getting pale, Wonho. You could use some sun.”

Wonho sighs, but the smile he offers is genuine. “We’ll see, Ki. You know how the bosses get about anyone leaving base without a damn good reason.”

Kihyun, already a flight of stairs up, leans over the edge, his smile just catching the light. “I know, but I can hope, can’t I? I’ll think of something.” He continues moving after that, Wonho watching him go until his eyes strain against the darkness for the shifting of Kihyun in the gloom. Kihyun knows because with every level he scales, his eyes always look for Wonho down below.

The roof comes several flights later, barred by a heavy metal door that doesn’t want to open and a cold wind that chills Kihyun to his bones. He ignores the noise the door makes as it slams shut, knowing that even if it does attract attention, he’ll be long gone by the time anyone makes it to the top.

Kihyun stands on the edge of the roof for a moment, sucking in a breath that stings in his lungs and peering out over the city that he once knew and loved. The skyline has long-since changed, shaped anew by Loki and his creatures when they took over. But even so, it’s familiar. And from the distant shifting glint of light in one of the more destroyed high rises, Kihyun takes comfort in knowing that there is someone waiting for him and that what he’d found tonight will make a difference for the rebellion in weeks to come.

As Changkyun’s voice crackles in his ear, alerting him of which routes to avoid on this next leg of the journey, Kihyun steps forward and allows himself to fall to the ground below.

**Author's Note:**

> I hate to say it, but this is probably my weakest bingo fic this round. I'm not entirely comfortable with it, but I do like how it turned out. For the most part. Considering that this is the one prompt I was most worried for, it definitely didn't turn out as bad as I thought it might.
> 
> It was left a little open ended, so if you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments (or concerns, or anything, really) or bring them to me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/CreateTheSound) or on [CC](https://curiouscat.me/createthesound)!


End file.
